Winger Cristiano Ronaldo could have signed for Juventus, claimed former Juventus sports director Luciano Moggi.

Moggi had claimed that Juventus were so close to signing the World Player of the Year just before Manchester United came in with a bid.

"He had come to Turin to do the medicals, but Marcelo Salas, who was going to return to Sporting Lisbon, blocked everything," claimed Moggi.

"Initially he wanted to go, but suddenly refused the transfer. And at that point we lost Cristiano Ronaldo. And so he joined Manchester United, which offered 33 billion (lira) and we could not compete.

"We had Ronaldo when he was 17 years old, but 33 billion at the time seemed crazy for a player of that age. Apart from the fact that we did not have that sort of money."